Worrals Down Under/plot
Chapter I: A Chance Encounter Worrals and Frecks are in Sydney hoping to start an airline. There they meet Janet Marlow, a former W.A.A.F. officer they had known during the war. Janet looks down and out and impoverished. Worrals and Frecks persuade her to tell her story. Janet tells them that her aunt Mary had written to her during the war telling her that she had found opal on her farm at Wallabulla and had invited her to join her business venture. After the war, Janet had travelled to Australia only to find her aunt dead. As the farm had been willed to Janet, she travelled there but found the place in the Australian outback too remote and lonely. After three days, she could not stand it any longer and left. Of opal, there was no sign. After coming back to Sydney, she had lived on her meagre savings and was almost at the end of her resources when she met Worrals and Frecks. Worrals proposes a partnership. She and Frecks finance the expedition and they would split the profits from any opals found three ways. Janet agrees. Chapter II: Sundown at Wallbulla Worrals and Frecks buy a old but sturdy Desoutter and the three friends fly to Wallabulla. There they are surprised to see the house in a mess. Towards evening, three men who look like prospectors approach the house. Worrals tells them they are trespassing and wants them to leave. They do so without argument but one of them adds, "This place ain't fit for girls." Chapter III: Noises in the Night Worrals does some hard thinking over dinner. The three men look like prospectors on a definite mission. Perhaps they are after the opal also. And it is possible that they were already on site during the Janet's first stay at Wallabulla. Perhaps they were responsible for the ghastly sounds at night which had frightened Janet away. As anticipated, the same ghastly sounds are heard later in the night. Worrals fires a few rifle shots at the source of the sound, a clump of bushes. A dark figure darts away. Worrals is convinced Aunt Mary's secret about the opals somehow leaked out and this explains the presence of the prospectors. Aunt Mary might have spoken to someone while in Adelaide. What about her lawyer, Mr Harding. He seemed to accept the fact of Aunt mary's death without requiring proof from Janet when she came to collect her inheritance. And Aunt Mary also needed to have her opal valued. One of these people might have been the leak. Worrals decides to go to Adelaide the next day to find out. Chapter IV: Worrals Takes a Trip At Adelaide, the lawyer, Harding, explains that he knew about the death of Aunt Mary because Charlie, her servant, had reported it to Dan Terry, the local policeman based at Oodnadatta. Terry had visited the grave and confirmed it officially. From Harding, Worrals obtains the name of the gemstone valuer, one Felix Moran, and she calls on him next. He doesn't offer much information beyond the fact that he did value Aunt Mary's opal. However, Worrals strikes up a conversation with the receptionist and learns that the three prospectors she met had been in Moran's office recently. The dark swarthy one is named Joe Barola. The red headed man is Luke Raffety and the aborigine is Yoka. Worrals waits at a restaurant to meet Harding again as he had promised to help her obtain some firearms licences. There she is surprised when Moran invites himself to her table. He had followed her since she left his office. He wants Worrals to persuade Janet to sell the property to him. He offers Worrals ten percent for trying. Worrals sends him packing. Next, to Oodnadatta where Worrals meets Dan Terry. By comparing dates with him, Worrals determines that Aunt Mary had died rather suddenly after returning from Adelaide. Her servant Charlie had told Terry she made "plenty wonga"--she had severe stomach pains. After reporting her death, Charlie had disappeared. Terry then adds, rather to Worrals' surprise, that Felix Moran had been asking after Charlie and had offered a large sum of money for information about him. As Worrals takes her leave, she notices a dog with Terry named Maginty. His master had died and Terry would soon have to put him to sleep as no one wanted him. Worrals can't let that happen and so takes him with her as a watchdog. Chapter V: Suspicions and alarums Back at Wallabulla, Worrals shares her findings and her conclusion that Moran is a crook and probably in league with Barola and Rafferty. There is even a possibility that Aunt Mary's death was not natural. However, if Moran and his gang did indeed contrive to kill Aunt Mary, they had blundered, because her secret died with her. That would explain why they were still prospecting on the land after such a long time. In the middle of the night, Maginty starts growling. Outside there is a swishing sound, a thud and then yells. The friends follow Maginty to the graves of Aunty Mary and her husband. They see a dark figure run away. There is a spade there and a patch of blood. There is another swish and the girls have to duck. Worrals now understands: they had heard boomerangs in flight. Chapter VI: Reconnaissance The next morning, Worrals and Frecks visit the gravesite and notice a spade mark. Someone had been trying to exhume Aunt Mary's grave. Moran and his confederates would be likely suspects--especially if they had an interest in preventing an autopsy. And now there was also a third party in the picture, someone armed with a boomerang. It must be Charlie! Worrals and Frecks examine the "wurlie" where Charlie used to live and see signs of recent habitation. They make a brief reconnaissance flight of the property then Worrals sends Frecks and Janet to Oodnadatta. She has a hunch Moran may turn up there on his way to Wallabulla. Worrals pretends to get on board then slips out and hides among some trees to watch the house with Maginty. Chapter VII: A Death at Wallabulla After a few hours, Worrals spots a man stealthily approaching the house and going inside. He does not look like Yoka: it must be Charlie! Then another man approaches, armed with a spear. It's Yoka and as he sees Charlie come out, he raises his weapon as if to attack. Worrals fires a snap shot and by chance it strikes the spear blade, toppling Yoka to the ground. He gets up and bolts. Charlie hurls a boomerang at home which strikes Yoka's neck with a crack, suggesting that it is a fatal blow. Just then a shot is heard and Charlie also collapses. Worrals dashes to the house and drags Charlie inside and dresses his wounds, thoroughly disconcerted by what has happened. Chapter VIII: Moran pulls a fast one At Oodnadatta, Frecks and Janet discover that Raffety is there with the car, most likely waiting for Moran. Janet goes off to call on Dan Terry but learns that he is away. Moran arrives at the airfield and as they set off, they back their car into the strut of the Desoutter. Claiming it is an accident, Moran takes his leave. Worrals will be all alone in confronting Moran and the gang, so Frecks tries to repair the plane but it takes three hours. They get back to Wallabulla to find Aunt Mary's grave dug up, the house dark, a spear stuck in the wall and Worrals gone. Chapter IX: Shocks for Worrals At Wallabulla, Worrals fills Maginty's water bowl and is shocked to see the dog die a quick but excruciating death. Barola or Raffety must have poisoned her water! Meanwhile Charlie begins to come to. Worrals says she is Janet's friend and Charlie says he knows her well. Their conversation is interupted by the sound of a car arriving outside. Moran, Raffety and Barola! Worrals can't outfight them so she tries bluff. She tells Charlie to pretend to be dead. Moran and gang come in and demand to know where Charlie. She tells them he died. Charlie plays the game well and they are convinced and start discussing what to do with the bodies of Yoka and Charlie. Raffety and Barola go to dig up Aunt Mary's grave but they soon return. The grave is a fake--just a pile of gravel, nothing underneath! Barola, hot from the digging, takes a drink from Maginty's bowl and suddenly feels ill. He realises he has been poisoned. He ought to know--he had planted the strychnine himself, same as for Aunt Mary. Raffety wants to drive Barola immediately to Oodnadatta for medical help. Moran is reluctant but is finally convinced after much delay. Worrals is relieved, but turning around, she finds that Charlie has now disappeared! Chapter X: Moran Makes an Offer Worrals goes out to search for Charlie. Frecks and Janet return to find the house empty but not for long--Worrals comes back and they update each other with the latest news. Barola dies on the way to Oodnadatta. Moran and Raffety come back and this time they have captured Charlie and what's more, they have taken from him a piece of paper: the map of the opal deposit which Aunt Mary had wanted to give to Janet. Moran lays down terms: hand over the title deeds to the property and they can leave. Worrals asks for the night to think about it. Chapter XI: Move and Countermove Morning comes. Worrals doesn't give the surrender signal and there is no sign of Moran. She is puzzled. The girls still had their weapons. Why had Moran not taken them away? It would be foolish of Moran to kill the girls outright--Terry and Harding knew there were there. Perhaps he wanted them to go and die in a staged accident? Worrals walks out to the Desoutter unopposed and examines it carefully and finds that sugar had been poured into the main tank! Fortunately, they had left the gravity tank untouched. Worrals decides to play a grand trick. They would take off on gravity, and then land nearby, faking a crash by lighting a fire. From the air they would spot Moran's car and they would then seize it. The plan works smoothly. Janet takes the car and drives to Oodnadatta to fetch Terry. Meanwhile Worrals and Frecks return to Wallabulla. Chapter XII: Frecks strikes out Worrals and Frecks keep watch on the house. They spot Moran and Raffety going in with Charlie carrying a heavy sack. Frecks goes to eavesdrop on the conversation inside. Moran says they don't need Charlie anymore as they know the location of the opals. He tells Raffety to take Charlie outside and kill him. Frecks is waiting by the door. She forgets she has the pistol in her pocket. Instead, she seizes a clothes-prop and strikes at Raffety as he emerges from the door. She tells Charlie to run for it. She also runs off while Worrals gives covering fire. Chapter XIII: The showdown Janet returns. She has picked up Charlie, tut Terry is not with them--he is still away. No matter, a few minutes later, they spot two horsemen. It's Terry! Worrals updates him quickly. He goes up to the door and demands the men come out but there is no response. They have escaped through a window! There is the sound of a car starting up. Looks like Moran and Rafferty will get away! But Worrals has a plan. She takes one of the horses and rides to her plane and comes back to fetch the others. They top up the gravity tank, take off and overtake the car. Worrals lands at a suitable spot and they lay an ambush. The plan works flawlessly and the car is stopped but Raffety and Moran shoots it out. Raffety tries to run but Terry manages to hit him. Moran, also lightly wounded, offers to surrender but Raffety shoots him dead, peeved at the way Moran treated Barola. Chapter XIV: The end of the trail Raffety dies in hospital in Oodnadatta but makes a full confession before expiring. The sack which Charlie carried consisted of opals which fetch a considerable sum when sold. With secure finances, Janet decides to sell Wallabulla. Dan Terry rounds off the story by asking her to marry him. Worrals and Frecks stay for the wedding before returning to Britain. Frecks makes sure she is not carrying any opal by accident. Category:Plot summaries